Kyle Okposo opens up about the darkest days of his life (The Athletic)

[Beerz]

Back from the abyss: Kyle Okposo opens up about the darkest...

BUFFALO, N.Y. — "In a dimly lit room off a sobering hospital corridor, Danielle Okposo curled herself in a chair every day and wearily waited for her husband to call out.

Your rings! Your rings!

She would reach out and instantly settle him.

Kyle Okposo couldn’t form full sentences. He was incoherent, confused, paranoid. He strained to recognize loved ones. He thought staffers around his bedside were there to hurt him.

Danielle was terrified. Doctors couldn’t provide answers.

Just over 18 months ago, Kyle suffered a concussion in a Buffalo Sabres workout, but the hit felt so ordinary he wouldn’t be diagnosed for days.

Even with that knowledge, medical experts from Buffalo General Hospital’s neurosurgical department, from the Sabres and from the NHL were unable to explain why Kyle had gone through a manic phase, why the lifelong introvert spent three days calling people from his past to tell them off, why..."

Click to read more...

 

[Filthy Dangles]

concussions are a scary scary thing that we take for granted too much. I might walk away from the game after that. you have a family to think about. he probably has pretty severe CTE. more head trauma might make his life that much worse years down the rroad.

once we get reliable pre mortem CTE testing, you're gonna see gyus walk away from pro sports, particularly NFL and NHL.

 

[Beerz]

concussions are a scary scary thing that we take for granted too much. I might walk away from the game after that. you have a family to think about. he probably has pretty severe CTE. more head trauma might make his life that much worse years down the rroad.

once we get reliable pre mortem CTE testing, you're gonna see gyus walk away from pro sports, particularly NFL and NHL.

His problems were from a reaction to a medication not the concussion... just so people are clear.

 

[Shootica]

His problems were from a reaction to a medication not the concussion... just so people are clear.

Are we positive about that? It's been reported that way in the past, but this article goes much further in depth on the situation than anything prior and doesn't mention a reaction to medicine. Rather, the impression that I got from this piece is that the hit itself caused this ordeal.

 

[LEAFANFORLIFE23]

concussions are a scary scary thing that we take for granted too much. I might walk away from the game after that. you have a family to think about. he probably has pretty severe CTE. more head trauma might make his life that much worse years down the rroad.

once we get reliable pre mortem CTE testing, you're gonna see gyus walk away from pro sports, particularly NFL and NHL.

No, you won't, not enough to matter anyway, becauselike it or not money talks and when it does most listen

 

[Beerz]

Are we positive about that? It's been reported that way in the past, but this article goes much further in depth on the situation than anything prior and doesn't mention a reaction to medicine. Rather, the impression that I got from this piece is that the hit itself caused this ordeal.

I dont have subscription to Athletic so i didnt get to read full article so you could be right but I'm going off what was reported in past

 

[Cellee]

Two dark stories out of Buffalo.

Not blaming Buffalo.

Just, yikes.

 

[end]

I don't know where it's better to post, but I have a real problem with the commonly traded "if only we knew it was bad" line. Everyone knew. Let's not pretend like we've never seen what happens to old boxers, old fighters, old bullriders, old wrestlers, old soldiers.

We all saw the WW1 shell shock videos in social studies class. What did they intend for us to think was happening there? How is it we can understand brain trauma in a hundred year old war but hockey coaches need to pretend like they had no idea sending Mickie the Goon to hand out skull fractures would have consequences? I don't know why people want this patina of lies, is this all guilty consciences feigning ignorance?

 

[Beerz]

Two dark stories out of Buffalo.

Not blaming Buffalo.

Just, yikes.

what was the other one? unless youre talking about the Sabres the past 5 years

 

[Hellraising Senator]

what was the other one? unless youre talking about the Sabres the past 5 years

Robin Lehner

Look his story up, it is pretty heavy.

 

[Beerz]

Robin Lehner

Look his story up, it is pretty heavy.

oh yeah.. forgot about that and it was only a few days ago

 

[Cellee]

what was the other one? unless youre talking about the Sabres the past 5 years

Lehner's battles with addiction and mental health from the Player's Tribune story.

 

[Ezekial]

Wow. That was a gripping story. I'm very happy for him, the insight this and the Lehner story give into the human part of sports cannot be overlooked. These are people battling injuries we couldn't imagine living with. It's more than just a guy picking up a stick and pads every night.

 

[Revelate]

I dont have subscription to Athletic so i didnt get to read full article so you could be right but I'm going off what was reported in past

Yeah, there’s no mention of medication. The concussion triggered manic symptoms stemming from a trauma he experienced when he was younger that he doesn’t want to disclose. He also apparently had a long term untreated neck issue.

The whole article is an incredibly tough read but it’s superbly written.

 

[jetsforever]

Pretty heavy stuff, glad he recovered

 

[Samsonite23]

This had me on the verge of tears on my lunch break at work.

The guy literally lived a real life nightmare for days. He's one of the best guys in the league judging by how other players talk about him. Glad he's ok.

I can't believe he's playing hockey again. What he went through sounds so dark and draining.

 

[Garbage Goal]

concussions are a scary scary thing that we take for granted too much. I might walk away from the game after that. you have a family to think about. he probably has pretty severe CTE. more head trauma might make his life that much worse years down the rroad.

once we get reliable pre mortem CTE testing, you're gonna see gyus walk away from pro sports, particularly NFL and NHL.

When you can get millions of dollars to play a game and be a pro athlete for a living, nobody is going to walk away just because of that. We more or less already know how deadly and serious CTE is (in terms of impact on quality of life and functioning) and it should be common sense how important a persons brain is.

That’s like saying once people know the results of drunk driving they’ll stop doing it. Or that once they know the effects of drinking on your liver they’ll stop. Obviously it isn’t the case. Except here you’re getting paid millions to play a game and be jacked for a living. Not to mention that you’re still much more likely to not have your life significantly impacted than to have it significantly effected if you play the sport (at least hockey).

If anything, they’ll just keep doing what they’re already doing which is change rules, regulations, and culture to minimize the chances of CTE.

 

[saintunspecified]

Imagine that a member of your family has a permanent personality change that occurred in a matter of days... Whatever the cause, that's just hard to fathom dealing with.

 

[John Price]

We can sit behind a computer on message boards and judge pro athletes but very few of us will ever know the horrors they go through especially with concussions. Very good read here. Helps provide some insight into the hard work that is pro sports.

 

[tarheelhockey]

concussions are a scary scary thing that we take for granted too much.

You know what would solve this?

Changing “concussion” to “brain damage”

F Kyle Okposo - out 4-6 weeks with brain damage

Doesn’t look quite the same, does it?

 

[Filthy Dangles]

You know what would solve this?

Changing “concussion” to “brain damage”

F Kyle Okposo - out 4-6 weeks with brain damage

Doesn’t look quite the same, does it?

Indeed good point.

 

[Chairman Maouth]

Knock off the talk about the Athletic's payment policies. It's derailing this thread.

 

[Levitate]

I don't know where it's better to post, but I have a real problem with the commonly traded "if only we knew it was bad" line. Everyone knew. Let's not pretend like we've never seen what happens to old boxers, old fighters, old bullriders, old wrestlers, old soldiers.

We all saw the WW1 shell shock videos in social studies class. What did they intend for us to think was happening there? How is it we can understand brain trauma in a hundred year old war but hockey coaches need to pretend like they had no idea sending Mickie the Goon to hand out skull fractures would have consequences? I don't know why people want this patina of lies, is this all guilty consciences feigning ignorance?

PTSD is different than head trauma.

That said, I think you're right in that this stuff was kind of purposefully ignored until recently, but there are also some different parts to it and more knowledge about how traumatic brain injury affects people.

When you can get millions of dollars to play a game and be a pro athlete for a living, nobody is going to walk away just because of that. We more or less already know how deadly and serious CTE is (in terms of impact on quality of life and functioning) and it should be common sense how important a persons brain is.

That’s like saying once people know the results of drunk driving they’ll stop doing it. Or that once they know the effects of drinking on your liver they’ll stop. Obviously it isn’t the case. Except here you’re getting paid millions to play a game and be jacked for a living. Not to mention that you’re still much more likely to not have your life significantly impacted than to have it significantly effected if you play the sport (at least hockey).

If anything, they’ll just keep doing what they’re already doing which is change rules, regulations, and culture to minimize the chances of CTE.

Some football players have actually been walking away from the game instead of playing as long as they're physically able. Calvin Johnson retired early when he was still one of the best receivers in football because he was tired of the beating his body was taking. More players are worried about it. I don't think you'll see a total death of the sport but it's entirely possible you'll see guys play fewer years

 

[Garbage Goal]

PTSD is different than head trauma.

That said, I think you're right in that this stuff was kind of purposefully ignored until recently, but there are also some different parts to it and more knowledge about how traumatic brain injury affects people.



Some football players have actually been walking away from the game instead of playing as long as they're physically able. Calvin Johnson retired early when he was still one of the best receivers in football because he was tired of the beating his body was taking. More players are worried about it. I don't think you'll see a total death of the sport but it's entirely possible you'll see guys play fewer years

I mean, that’s football. The sport is literally built around o and d lines ramming their heads into each other and every player putting their head at risk via regular and severe body contact. That is the one major sport I can see some players walking away from because the game is fundamentally a huge CTE risk. Won’t see a death knell though.

Hockey is considerably less severe as compared to football or how hockey used to be played. To the point where huge hits are semi rare. This is because huge hits aren’t a fundamental or altogether necessary part of the game. There are ways to decrease head trauma without fundamentally altering the game, unlike football. So I doubt hockey will lose anyone over it.

 

[SENSARMY18]

Very interesting story